Where There Aren't No Ten Commandments

This chapter focused on slavery in the Congo and the interactions/wars/rebellions between the natives and the colonizers. This is the first chapter where slavery is discusses at length and features a rare account Ilanga which contributes to the 'African Voice' sub theme within the text.

"Where There Aren't No Ten Commandments" follows a strange but understandable outline. It opens with details of Western luxuries in Congo. These luxuries are only for the whites there and is contrasted with the treatment of the Congolese. This is where the chapter starts discussing slavery. Hochschild reveals information about the 'chicotte', a whip used to punish the slaves. 

Several accounts and testimonies are detailed in this chapter as well, accompanied by photos that mirror the chronological order of the information Hochschild already told the reader. 

In concern to the ultimate question, I believe that this chapter mirrors much of the attitude and treatment that exists today in Africa. Exploitation and slavery may look different but the fundamental building blocks of these concepts remain the same. First world countries are still exploiting Africa and slavery still exists.


Quiz Questions
1.Why is slavery first “nakedly” addressed first in this chapter? No euphemisms or analogies.
2. Why do you think at the end of the chapter, page 139, there is a translation from French to English for the white people songs, but no African dialect for the song the Africans sang?
3. What did Congo provide for the male youth of Europe?
4. How does Lefranc’s observations/account affect our perception of life in Congo?
5. While the use of the slaves for the railroad is described, very briefly, why is there no further mention of the railroad and its progress?

Questions on Congo

crisis group

2. What does the Western world find so fascinating about Africa? Specifically, why the Congo region, its river, and its forests?

Resources. There is no regulation or opposition for the Westerners to reap the benefits of Congo's natural resources. I think the Westerners found Africa as a new, explored virgin land full of people they believed were savages and below them. Not only did Congo's region/Africa as a whole provide a safer route to Asia for spices, it also had resources. With their advanced guns and steel they were able to take these resources without much trouble as the native there were unable to compete against such technology.

In the present day, we still are exploiting Congo (mining) especially American companies (exploiting). Its the minerals and lumber and the cheapness of it all that makes Western interest so strong. The four main minerals that are mined in Congo are

• Cobalt 
• Diamonds
• Gold
• Copper

These are precious metals that are worth a lot and sell a lot (especially in wealthy, first world countries). As these resources contribute much to the market and the economy as a whole, the first world countries pay much attention, so much that the UN has taken a hand (UN). But these interventions aren't enough because most of these mining areas aren't regulated. Because of this, many surrounding areas such as Rwanda has taken an interest (conflict) and have caused war within the area. "former lobbyist for Mobutu and Kabila’s government in the United States and former assistant secretary of state for Africa from 1989 to 1993 argues, “Having controlled the Kivu provinces for 12 years, Rwanda will not relinquish access to resources that constitute a significant percentage of its gross national product.” (conflict) The miners are paid on average of $1-$5 a day (here). The profits that many owners of these mines are huge. 

In regards to its forests, it had been found recently there is an abuse of logging permits (here). 

• "The “Artisanal Logging Permits” are designed to allow Congolese communities to carry out small-scale logging in their forests. But in practice, they are being used by foreign loggers to exploit Congo’s forests on an industrial scale, primarily for buyers in China."
• "DRC is the second most forested country on earth and 40 million Congolese depend on the forest for income, food, building materials or medicine."

Congo is exploited, yes, but it is not just being exploited. In a sense Congo is being raped, its resources taken without consent, from its previously untouched land. 

Senior Project/Paper

For my Senior Project, I focused on alternative medicine and holistic health. My project isn't planned for several weeks but I do plan to host a seminar in which I will teach and instruct students (or whoever attends) various methods to relieve stress and pain without medication.

In regards to my paper I discussed the direct influences of Chinese/Eastern medicine on Western culture. I talked about yoga, acupuncture, and acupressure and its clear availability and integration within the Western world. What worked well was my organization of my paper. I outlined everything and formatted it so that the paragraphs regarding the different subjects mirrored each other. I began with the origins, how it worked, why it worked, and how it came into our culture and its impact.

To make it better I could have used better language or vocabulary in my paper but I wanted it to be clear s I was conflicted on my approach to syntax or sentence structure at times because I worried that I would over complicate things.

Link

Research Paper

1. Electroconvulsive Shock Therapy and why we should allow/offer it in more medical institutions because it is clearly beneficial for those suffering from severe depression and various mental disorders.

2. The medical journals and studies and the 'official websites' such as AMA or MayoClinic because these sources are credible and deal with ECT. These sources give an overall understanding of the pros and cons of ECT. These also give explanations in a technical and scholarly standard which can be hard to understand but it does show that these are professional studies and therefore credible.

3. I believe ECT is a valid treatment that should be brought to public knowledge. In these studies I have seen many testimonies that show that ECT is effective in deterring suicidal thoughts in patients. This is a way to treat a mental illness where medicine usually fails. Sometimes therapy, medication is not enough. ECT essentially reboots the brain and since we do not understand the brain as well as the other organs, we should continue to see where ECT leads us.

4. I will take much time explaining what the medical jargon refers to and essentially summarize many of the studies in a way that is understandable. I will provide a brief explanation on the anatomy of the brain and which parts of ECT are effected. I have to use my space wisely and make sure that I am able to explain the terminology behind ECT without losing the focus on ECT itself and my argument

5. I was surprised by my entire subject. This was a research paper in the sense that I didn't know anything about ECT so to find out what it was used for, why it is so effective, and the entire medical/scientific reasoning behind ECT